Portsmouth ‘fans to fume’ after John Mousinho transfer admission at Fratton Park
Michael Eisner hasn’t given Portsmouth fans much to be excited about for the Championship season.
John Mousinho’s team will face Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday (9 August) as the visitors look to start the new Championship campaign on the front foot.
The Fratton Park faithful won’t want to be involved in a relegation battle once again, but the recruitment this transfer window won’t encourage many supporters.
Pompey have signed Yang Min-hyeok from Tottenham on loan, but further additions up front may not be seen before the end of August.
Mousinho admits Portsmouth not looking for new centre-forward
Portsmouth aren’t “actively pursuing” the signing of a new number nine this summer, Mousinho says.
The English manager revealed that Colby Bishop will be Pompey’s first-choice striker this season, and it will be challenging to find someone to back him up at Fratton Park.
While the 39-year-old head coach hasn’t completely ruled out an addition up front, it doesn’t seem like a priority for the Hampshire outfit.
- Bishop was the top scorer at Pompey last season.
- Callum Lang was the second leading goalscorer for the Hampshire outfit.
- Portsmouth ended the previous campaign with a goal difference of -13 in the league.
Speaking to the media, as relayed by The News (8 August), Mousinho said: “We don’t make any bones about it, Colby is our frontline centre-forward at the moment and it’s going to be very, very hard to shift him. So it’s a difficult thing to recruit underneath that, but if something pops up, I don’t think we can dismiss it.
“It’s not something we have been actively pursuing at the moment, it’s one that might be the cherry on top at the back end of the window. Possibly a loan market, we’ll see where things move.”
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Who does Mousinho have as striker options at Fratton Park?
Portsmouth will undoubtedly have to rely on Bishop for the 2025/26 campaign after he scored 11 goals in the Championship last season.
Kusini Yengi and Christian Saydee have left Pompey this summer, but the Hampshire outfit haven’t signed a new number nine.
The Blues have made additions on the wings with Adrian Segecic, Florian Bianchini and Yang, but a new centre-forward is arguably needed.
Apart from Bishop, Thomas Waddingham is the only number nine Portsmouth have on their books.
| Player | Age |
| Bishop | 28 |
| Waddinham | 20 |
The 20-year-old made five appearances for Pompey last season after signing from Brisbane Roar in the winter transfer window, scoring one goal.
It would undoubtedly be ridiculous for Pompey to think they can make progress in the Championship without a competitive squad at Mousinho’s disposal.
Mousinho should be pushing for a new striker before the end of August, but instead, he’s making statements that will undoubtedly enrage fans in PO4.
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